Your mom is alone most of the week. You and your brother work. Her friends have moved to other states. She doesn’t drive. Those three things have you thinking that caregivers might be a good solution to ease her loneliness. You’re looking into home care, but you have concerns about myths you’ve heard, particularly that once you sign up, you can’t adjust the services she gets. Not only is this not true, but home care is even more flexible than many people think.
Care Plans Are Flexible
People’s needs change. Your mom may have just had hip surgery and need help with transportation, showers, and getting in and out of bed or a chair while she heals. She might want someone there to help her with housework. When she’s healed and is fully mobile again, she won’t need as much help.
Caregivers do what is requested. As abilities change, services are dropped or added to match those changing needs. The care your mom needs now may be a lot different from what she needs a year from now. Home care services are designed to make it easy to change.
Respite Care Is a Temporary Service
Have you heard of respite care? It’s a service caregivers offer that’s designed to be temporary or only happen every now and then. It’s a way to have help while you take a break or while someone recovers from an illness.
Your dad may need respite care for a few weeks after he develops shingles. The pain keeps him from moving around. He needs someone else to cook meals, do the laundry, and clean the home.
Respite care can be a regular event where you have caregivers take over while you go out of town each month. It can be a quick service that allows you to stay home when you have the flu. When you’ve recovered and are no longer contagious, you return to caring for your parents.
Services Can Be Canceled Or Paused
It’s also perfectly acceptable to cancel or pause services. Your mom loves her caregivers, but she’s moving to a smaller house. In the meantime, she’s moving in with her sister and won’t need caregivers for now. When she’s settled in her new home, she’ll need caregivers again.
Home care agencies work with families to make sure care needs are met. If things need to be changed, paused, or stopped, it’s okay. You’re not bound by a life-long plan of care when you sign up.
Call a home care agency and ask about the cost of caregivers’ services. You’ll learn more about adding and dropping services. You can also learn more about how to pause or cancel caregivers if needs change.
If you or an aging loved-one is considering caregivers in Stockton, CA, please contact the caring staff at Provident Care Home Care today at (209) 578-1210.
- Home Care Assistance and Healthy Eating for Seniors - December 20, 2024
- How Does Loneliness Affect Seniors? - December 13, 2024
- Six Key Ways Senior Home Care Supports Aging in Place - December 6, 2024
